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1. Good Eats: this isn't just another cooking show, it's a cooking show as science, as performance art, as standup, as a one-man play. Alton Brown manages to make cooking fun and witty and interesting. All cooking shows should take cues from him.
2. Unwrapped: I'm always fascinated with food and it's connections to American pop culture, and what better way to explore that than in a show about American junk food and fast food? A really fun show.
3. 30 Minute Meals: OK, OK, I know a lot of you are going to disagree with me here. I mean, Rachael Ray has 20 shows on the channel and you either love her or hate her. I happen to think she's fun to watch, and the stuff she makes (and the way she makes it) is something I can really identify with. I can picture myself in my kitchen making and eating the stuff that she does, and that's her goal, right?
4. Food 911: Like Brown, host Tyler Florence puts a different spin on the typical cooking show, going to homes and cooking with other people, while giving little kitchen how-tos that we can use for our own meals. Great varied menus too. (How To Boil Water is a cool show too.)
5. Sara's Secrets: I'm still kinda ticked that they cancelled Sara Moulton's other show, Cooking Live. Man, I loved that show, and the fact that it was live and had guests and you could call in with questions and your own recipes...that made it all the more special. There's really nothing like that on the network now. So, this is a protest vote as well as a vote for Moulton herself, who also seems to give her recipes an interesting twist without going overboard (are you listening, Emeril?)
6. Semi-Homemade Cooking: Host Sandra Lee has her detractors, but I'm sorry, I think she has one of the most interesting shows on the channel. Like Ray, she makes stuff that I can identify with, using stuff that I probably bought last night when I went grocery shopping. Lots of fantastic tips and tricks on this show. Seriously.
7. The Secret Life Of...: Because it's like Unwrapped, only for regular meals and other foods you eat every single day. I like how host Jim O'Connor travels around and really gets involved with the people and companies he's covering.
8. Paula's Home Cooking: I love the fact that Paula Deen cooks the good stuff, the comfort food, the big meals, with no real emphasis on calories or low fat or low carb or whatever. By making some really great American meals, something that's rather ordinary for all of us, she manages somehow to have one of the more original shows on the Food Network.
I almost picked one of Jaime Oliver's shows, because it's very English and shows a world that American foodies don't often explore. I mean, where else can you see a recipe for My Mum's Spottier Dick?
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11-08-2005 @4:11PM Dmnkly said... Where's the love for Iron Chef? I could see it being argued that the Japanese version isn't a Food Network show, but even the American version should crack the list, dont'cha think? :-)
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11-08-2005 @4:24PM Jason said... What about Everyday Italian? The food is always easy and tasty, not to mention she is much better looking than Alton ;-)
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11-08-2005 @4:53PM geoff said... Molto Mario? Barefoot Contessa?? Are You KIDDING?? These don't even make the list, but you give props to Sandra LEE???? I am definately questioning your logic. There are many, many good shows on the food network and 30 min meals, semi-homemade, and greasy southern cooking with Paula Dean are not original or even worth mentioning. C'mon, I agree with your positioning of Alton Brown, he is literally a God here in Atlanta but, give us some slack, the previously mentioned shows were built for mass audiences, not for people who love food. I would appreciate a more critical reading of the shows listed.
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11-08-2005 @6:16PM sarah said... ok, i cannot believe rachael ray is on this list, but it is understandable. HOWEVER, i cannot forgive you for SANDRA LEE!!!! i just don't have words to express...LOL! oi.
jason, i'll have to disagree with you on everyday italian. giada de laurentiis looks like a blowpop. her head is waaaay too big for her anorexic body and there is NO WAY she eats anything she cooks.
i am sad that yes, jamie oliver didn't make the list, nor TONY BOURDAIN!!!!! i loved a cook's tour!!!
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11-08-2005 @9:50PM Mike G. said... I agree with everything Sarah said above. That semi-homemade lady is waaaay scary.
What about PBS shows like America's Test Kitchen? This is a great show with basic tips that teach technique and science, a la Alton Brown. I love the classic Great Chefs of the World on Discovery. Cookin' in Brooklyn is fun, too.
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11-08-2005 @10:34PM Vince said... What Sarah said..isnt that a song?
Anyway, what about Emeril Live..? I mean the Bam Bam thing is annoying but the recipes seem so delicious
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11-08-2005 @10:49PM Anthony said... I am so glad that Bobby Flay's show "Boy Meets Grill' is not on this list. Also, I noticed that no one has mentioned him. I am very happy about that. If he had been on this list I would have deleted Slashfood from my favorites list. The show really is dumb and Mr. Flay really doesn't teach anything. He basically takes everything and grills it. How hard is that? Again, thank you for not mentioning him.
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11-08-2005 @10:53PM Sam F. said... Ok, I have to agree with the first one, because it is one of my all time favorite shows. I also have to agree with 30 minute meals, if not for the recipes, than for the sheer entertainment value of hearing Rachel Ray say things like "Garbage bowl" and "EVOO." BUT I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT SANDRA LEE MADE THE LIST!!!!! that should be removed and malto mario should be substituted, or at least move Paula up the list, BUT SANDRA LEE!!!!! COME ON.
Just sharing my thoughts,
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11-09-2005 @5:00AM Drew C said... Ahem, my list.
1. Good Eats - Clever, educational, and good recipes. Alton is awesome.
2. Iron Chef - Entertaining, elevates cooking to another level
3. Secret Life Of - Jim O Connor is perky w/o being annoying like RR.
4. Molto Mario - This is the essence of italian cooking. Too bad Mario isn't as marketable as Emeril.
5. Emeril Live - Somehow the audience still laughs at his stupid Emeril-isms even though they've heard it 1000 times but he does make tasty looking dishes.
6. $40 Dollars a Day - RR is annoying. Do not argue that. But at least with $40/day she has great destinations.
7. Paula's Home Cooking - What a sweet lady, I mean she's got personality, mayonnaise and butter. What else does she need?
8. 30 minute meals - Even though I'm a little annoyed by her, she does make meals that I'd eat and her goofyness is good for laughs sometimes, so I am strangely compelled to watch her show. She's actually growing on me...
9. Iron Chef America - I like the dishes a lot but I hate how they shamelessly mock the original. They use an actor trained in martial arts as some sort of liason to the orient to validate the show's authenticity? Is he even asian? And he calls Chairman Kaga his uncle!? I also miss all the fanfare of the original because it seemed like there was more at stake.
10. How to boil water / Food 911 - I think Tyler Florence always seems to fall into the role of dashing young chef who tutors helpless woman while hubby's away... Tons of desperate housewives out there must eat this up because they canned the first host and gave Tyler his show.
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11-09-2005 @3:54AM Eliot Phillips said... Another vote for Everyday Italian with head-on-a-string Giada. Of course the show's better with her hair down.
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11-09-2005 @8:44AM Shad Genki said... Why no props are given to Emeril or Chairman Kaga (read, Iron Chef) is beyond me. Two of the biggest icons in moden food television have gone totally unrecognized in your list. Rachel is going to have to get bumped off the top at some point because, in my opinion, many of her recipes do NOT take 30 minutes; 30 mins. just to COOK maybe...
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11-09-2005 @10:38AM Reese said... Good Eats is my favorite show on television. My Tivo dutifully records about 5 episodes per week and I watch them all, even the ones I've seen more times than I can count. Alton combines humor, science, history and great recipes. And any person that claims MacGyver as his patron saint is good in my book.
Some others that I love/have loved:
A Cook's Tour: Tony speaks his mind, eats everything that I someday hope to get a chance to and loves every minute of his adventures. How can you not love this show?
Mario Eats Italy: I love Italian food (or what we Americans have come to believe is Italian food). It's great to get to see how some of my favorites come into being. For example the shows on the makers of Prosciutto, Parmasean Cheese, and of course Buffalo Mozzarella.
Food 911: Tyler takes recipes that seem just out of reach to the common home cook and firmly gives you the know how and confidence to cook up a storm.
Granted this is only the short list. Don't want to ramble on forever. :)
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11-09-2005 @4:42PM sj said... Aw, come on! The semi-ho maid's trainwreck is one of the funniest shows on TV!
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11-09-2005 @12:10PM alps said... good eats? Great! the rest of the list is sub par. I cook a ton and watch a ton of food network but most of the shows aren't so hot. Semi home made cooking? whats up with that? and i didn't i see a post just the other day about how that isn't really any cooking? that show is worse than bad and sandra lee is just far too into herself.
Also, where is the iron chef love? I mean come on, i have learned more from watching those shows that from any other show ever ( ok maybe not more than AB) but it is a lesson in cooking. I get so much insperation from that show and have seen them so many times i have them pretty much memorized.
and no malto. come one? other than the that stupid thing he does with his hands at the end to form the m's the show is pretty great. nope don't like this list. not at all...
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11-09-2005 @12:44PM Al said... #9, I hate to break it to you, but Chairman Kaga from the original Iron Chef was also not a real eccentric millionaire. He is an actor, well known in Japan for his roles on soap opera type shows.
ICA tops my list, followed by Good Eats. Alton and Mario both rule. Bobby Flay is a complete tool, but you can at least make a drinking game out of when he almost or actually injures himself.
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11-09-2005 @1:27PM Jim said... Sandra Lee??? Watching ham cure is more exciting than her. I also agree with giada's blow pop head, but I like blow pops.
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11-10-2005 @3:20PM Staci said... My FoodNetwork List:
1) Good Eats (Alton is just Fun. I don't necessarily like his recipies, but at least the presentation is hilarious and educational.)
2) Emeril (Again, he may be cheesy and overdone, but he makes cooking fun!)
3) Iron Chef and Iron Chef America. (the Chariman is a known actor on both shows. The original is actually listed on my direct TV program guide as a "Game show" It's not about the Chairmen, it's about the IC's baby!!)
4) the Secret life of... (I like to hear how food originated. And Jim is a goof so it's fun.)
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All in all, it occured to me that I watche these shows too much when I have the food network on and I can ask my three year olds (twin girls) what show is on and they can tell me Unwrapped (we normally watch the Food Network on Sunday for all the unwrapped, 30 minute meals, Emeril, ICA, Challanges etc are on)
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11-12-2005 @11:38AM Hazelip said... You're out of your mind for including that Semi-Homemade crap in your list. Isn't that turdball cancelled now? Hopefully...
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11-12-2005 @3:26PM Mart said... Good Eats is a great show, but Alton is not that funny; not as funny as he thinks he is, at least. He also has an unhealthy love of shortening, the sort of stuff you scoop out of a tub that is literally solid trans fatty acids.
Anything with Mario in is top of my list. Just as educational as Alton is, but with real passion for food. At least when he uses lard and animal fats he's using the real thing.
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11-13-2005 @8:36PM Lynne Yates-Carter said... Really like Dan and Steve's new show...they are fun to watch and the food's something anyone can do.
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